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Syrian refugees seeking safety and peace

( Updated: 06/04/2014 )

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A Syrian refugee girl sits in a classroom at a Lebanese public school where only Syrian students attend classes in the afternoon, at Kaitaa village in north Lebanon. More than 1.1 million Syrian refugees are now living in Lebanon. Most of them are either excluded or will abstain from the presidential elections in Syria. Syrian authorities have said that only those who entered Lebanon legally could vote, effectively ruling out tens of thousands of refugees mostly opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who crossed through unofficial border posts for fear of authorities. Hussein Malla/AP

Secretary of State John Kerry, and National Security Adviser Susan Rice listen as President Barack Obama and Poland's President Bronislaw Komorowski speak at a news conference at Belweder Palace in Warsaw, Poland, June 3, 2014. John Kerry is on an unannounced trip to Lebanon to bring Obama administration support to the country's government as it confronts severe difficulties, with an influx of refugees from next door in Syria and a political stalemate at home. Kerry arrived in Beirut to meet with Lebanese officials and others as they deal with both the fallout from the conflict in Syria and a seemingly intractable dispute over who will become the next Lebanese president. Charles Dharapak/AP

Syrian refugees walk at Al-Zaatri refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria January 23, 2014. The UN hopes that political talks between the warring sides in Syria will clinch local ceasefires to allow vital food and medicines to reach millions of civilians. Muhammad Hamed/Reuters

Pakistani teenage activist Malala Yousafzai (c.) and Syrian refugee Mazoon Rakan (l.) visit an art gallery for children at a UNICEF center at the Zaatri refugee camp, in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syrial, February 18, 2014. Malala visited various premises including the schools and playgrounds, and interacted with refugees and learned about their plights. Mazoon has urged other Syrian refugee girls her age to focus on their education and not to marry at an early age, according to her father Rakan Mansour. Muhammad Hamed/Reuters

Child refugees attend a class during the opening of a new school at the Al Zaatri refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria June 4, 2013. The new school was co-financed with 50 million euros by the European Union and managed by UNICEF. Muhammad Hamed/Reuters

Syrian refugee Ali Shteiwi kisses his wife Walaa as she holds their newborn daughter, Taymaa, at the Zaatari refugee camp in Mafraq, Jordan, near the border with Syria July 24, 2013. Ali says, 'God help this new generation of refugee children. They have nothing to live for, except wars. God help us.' Raad Adayleh/AP

Syrian refugees watch the news of the peace talks in Switzerland, inside a makeshift tent home in an unofficial refugee camp on the outskirts of Amman, Jordan, Jan. 22, 2014. Mohammad Hannon/AP

Refugees take a rest outside their tents at an unofficial refugee camp on the outskirts of Amman, Jordan, Jan. 22, 2014. Mohammad Hannon/AP

A volunteer (c.) distributes humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees at a refugee center in the town of Harmanli, southeast of Sofia, Bulgaria, January 21, 2014. The Bulgarian army has started to build 30-km long fencing at the border with Turkey to prevent an influx of illegal immigrants, mainly refuge seekers from Syria, according to local media. Stoyan Nenov/Reuters

Syrian refugees cross from Syria to Turkey via the Orontes River, near the village of Hacipasa, Turkey, Dec. 8, 2012. Manu Brabo/AP

A refugee camp is set up near the Turkish border in Azaz, Syria, Dec. 9, 2012. Manu Brabo/AP

A Syrian woman who fled her home cries while asking for a pillow and a blanket at a distribution at a camp for displaced Syrians, in the village of Atmeh, Syria, Dec. 10, 2012. Muhammed Muheisen/AP

Rada Hallabi, who is sick with diabetes, lies on a blanket in a refugee camp on the border with Turkey, near Azaz village, Syria, Sept. 30, 2012. Manu Brabo/AP

Newly-arrived Syrian refugees on the road after crossing the border from Tal Shehab city in Syria through the Al Yarmouk River valley into Thnebeh town, in Ramtha, Jordan, Sept. 5, 2012. Jordanian military vehicles make few trips down the valley to help elderly refugees, women, and children to reach the town of Thnebeh. Mohammad Hannon/AP

Syrian refugees shout slogans against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad after receiving news from the Syrian frontline at Al Zaatri refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, Sept. 9, 2012. Muhammad Hamed/Reuters

A Syrian boy, who fled his home in Marea due to fighting between the Syrian army and the rebels, is adorned in the colors of the Syrian revolutionary flag as he and his family take refuge at the Bab Al-Salameh border crossing, in hopes of entering one of the refugee camps in Turkey, near the Syrian town of Azaz, Aug. 30, 2012. Muhammed Muheisen/AP

A displaced Syrian woman is seen in a building still under construction in an improvised refugee camp at the border with Turkey, near Azaz village, Syria, Sept. 30, 2012. Manu Brabo/AP

A young Syrian refugee looks out from a bus as he arrives at a stopover facility for breaking fast near the Turkish border town of Reyhanli, in Hatay province, Aug. 10, 2012. Umit Bektas/Reuters

Syrians line up to collect water from a tanker, as they take refuge at the Bab Al-Salameh border crossing, in hopes of entering one of the refugee camps in Turkey, near the Syrian town of Azaz, Sept. 7, 2012. The days are still hot across the plains of northern Syria, but at night there is a chill an ominous harbinger of winter's approach and the deepening of the humanitarian crisis gripping a country wracked by civil war. Muhammed Muheisen/AP

An Iraqi border policeman looks through a pair of binoculars near the Iraqi-Syrian borders at the Abu Kamal-qaim border crossing, the main border post between Iraq and Syria, Sept. 8, 2012. Al Qaim, in the Sunni heartland of Anbar province, reflects the tricky balancing act Iraq's Shi'ite leaders face in Syria, whose crisis is testing the Middle East's sectarian divide. Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters

Syrian boys play near a refugee camp on the border with Turkey, near Azaz village, Syria, Sept. 30, 2012. Manu Brabo/AP

Two Syrian men walk by a defaced poster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as they cross from Turkey into Syria through the Bab Al-Salam border crossing, under control of the Free Syrian Army, near the town of Azaz, north of Aleppo, Syria, Aug. 13, 2012. Khalil Hamra/AP

Syrian refugee children take part in drawing activities in the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, on Sept. 4, 2012. Jonathan Hyams/Reuters

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The UN evacuated staff from the Za'atari refugee camp twice in the last day. With winter weather bearing down on the roughshod camp, the conditions refugees rioted against will only worsen.

ByNicholas Seeley, CorrespondentOctober 2, 2012

Rioting has forced the United Nations refugee agency to evacuate its staff from the Za'atari camp twice in the last day, jeopardizing the primary source of support for the more than 30,000 Syrians living in the camp. By evening, they had returned to work, UN officials said, but the frequent disruptions are becoming a serious problem in the camp.